Trevor Lee (politician)

Trevor Lee
Member of the Utah House of Representatives
from the 16th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 1, 2023[1]
Personal details
Political partyRepublican

Trevor Lee is an American politician known for his controversies attacking the LGBT community and his association with the alt-right "DezNat" movement.[2] He serves as a Republican member for the 16th district of the Utah House of Representatives. He assumed office on January 1, 2023.[3][4]

Early life and education

Lee graduated from Davis High School (Utah) and has a degree from Weber State University.[5]

Controversial 2025 legislation

Lee was a sponsor of HB77,[6] a bill that Lee said "would ban Pride flags from schools" and local government buildings, while allowing Nazi and Confederate flags to be displayed in Utah classrooms for educational purposes.[7][8][9] The bill became law without Gov. Spencer Cox's signature and will go into effect May 7, 2025. The law places responsibility for enforcement upon the state auditor.[10]

Lee was a co-sponsor on the 2025 HB81[11] bill that banned fluoride in public water systems.[12] This law will make Utah the first state to ban fluoride in drinking water. The bill was opposed by the American Dental Association. Opponents of the bill noted that research has found that water fluoridation prevents about 25% of tooth decay,[13] and warned that the bill may disproportionately affect low-income residents.

Twitter account controversy

In 2022, The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Lee was behind a Twitter account that promoted election and coronavirus conspiracy theories and attacked women and LGBTQ individuals.[2] These events occurred after Lee had previously made transphobic comments and used a slur for transgender people on a Utah podcast, for which he had apologized and "erased it from [his] vocabulary."[14]

Pride Month controversy

In June 2025, the Utah Mammoth NHL hockey team posted a message on X that said "Happy Pride!" with the team logo rendered in the colors of the Pride Flag. Lee replied to the tweet, claiming "Utahns overwhelmingly don't support pride month." He then said to "watch for some significant legislation this next session that pushes back onto these woke groups!" When KSL-TV requested an interview with Lee, Lee declined and would not discuss the legislation, saying "you'll have to wait and see" and that the Utah Legislature "will be putting a stop to entities that will take taxpayer money from pushing political agendas." In a later tweet, he claimed "'Pride' is about promoting the social acceptance of gay sex, transgender child mutilation and various other forms of iniquity. Its premise is that they are not just not sinful, but worthy of celebration."[15]

A 2024 survey by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 86% of Utahns expressed support for LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections.[16]

Pride Month is dedicated to the uplifting of LGBTQ voices, celebration of LGBTQ culture, and the support of LGBTQ rights.

Personal life

Trevor Lee lives in Layton, Utah, with his wife Kaitlin and their four children.[5]

References

  1. ^ "Trevor Lee". Ballotpedia. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "GOP candidate Trevor Lee ran a secret Twitter account that attacked LGBTQ people and Utah Gov. Cox. Now he's been rebuked by Republican leadership". The Salt Lake Tribune. September 23, 2022. Archived from the original on March 5, 2025.
  3. ^ "Trevor Lee". Utah House of Representatives. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "House Members". Utah House of Representatives. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  5. ^ a b "Voter Guide". The City Journal. May 31, 2024. Archived from the original on October 12, 2024.
  6. ^ "H.B. 77 Flag Display Amendments". March 29, 2025.
  7. ^ Limehouse, Jonathan. "Utah bill would ban Pride flags in public schools but allow Nazi flags for educational use". USA TODAY. Archived from the original on March 30, 2025. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  8. ^ Flag Display Amendments 2025 GENERAL SESSION STATE OF UTAH. https://le.utah.gov/Session/2025/bills/introduced/HB0077.pdf
  9. ^ Hudson, Vanessa (March 1, 2025). "Bill to ban pride flags from Utah schools advances to Senate". Utah News Dispatch. Archived from the original on March 29, 2025. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  10. ^ "Utah becomes first state to ban LGBTQ pride flags in government buildings and schools". CBS News. March 28, 2025. Archived from the original on March 31, 2025.
  11. ^ "H.B. 81 Fluoride Amendments". March 27, 2025.
  12. ^ "Utah will be the first state to ban fluoride in drinking water". AP News. March 10, 2025. Archived from the original on March 27, 2025. Retrieved March 11, 2025.
  13. ^ "CDC Scientific Statement on Community Water Fluoridation". Center for Disease Control. May 15, 2024. Archived from the original on March 24, 2025. Retrieved March 31, 2025.
  14. ^ "Republican candidate for Utah Legislature made transphobic comments on a conservative podcast". The Salt Lake Tribune. April 29, 2022. Archived from the original on March 25, 2025.
  15. ^ "GOP lawmaker threatens 'significant legislation' after Mammoth, Jazz celebrate Pride month". Archived from the original on June 5, 2025.
  16. ^ "Survey shows Utahns back LGBTQ nondiscrimination more than national average". March 24, 2024. Archived from the original on June 3, 2025.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.